I blog about my jewelry inspirations. Readers will find that various elements of nature are my inspirations. Of course, I include jewelry making tips. This blog also includes some of my favorite Etsy shops, bead shops and jewelry customers.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

A New Design for an Old Necklace

This gray starfish necklace has a history. It began with a necklace that I made when I first started making jewelry. I was never happy with it. I loved the freshwater blister pearls. They are a high quality pearl with a hint of pink in them. My mistake was in using inexpensive Chinese crystals that I thought would add some sparkle to the necklace. I also used a base metal clasp that was nothing special. I thought these pearls deserved better!

Original Gray Pearl Necklace

Magpie Gemstones supplied me with some sparkling little pyrite faceted gemstones that enabled me to transform the first necklace that I made into something more sophisticated and interesting.

These pyrite gemstones are tiny--about 3 mm. They have sparkle and texture. I decided to take the Chinese crystals out and replace with pyrite to add sparkle and some tiny pink peanut shaped beads to bring out the pink in the gray pearls. I also upgraded the clasp with a pretty starfish made from pewter. I feel like I have finally done justice to these pearls. I thank Magpie Gemstones for supplying me with the pyrite gemstones that I used. Right now they have a sale going on that includes these same pyrite gemstones.